Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige Reveals What Marvel Should Actually Take Away From 'Deadpool's' Success

When Deadpool took theaters by storm earlier this year, a lot of us started crossing fingers that we would get to see more R-rated superhero movies on the big screen. After all, even if our favorite heroes always get involved in action scenes tense enough to get our hearts racing, there hadn't been a superhero movie of this scale that went all the way in terms of blood spilling and swearing before.

But Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige knows that there's more to a good movie than just increasing the amount of violence and swear words. In a recent interview with Deadline, in which he discusses a number of Marvel projects, he explains why there's more to Deadpool than just being R-rated.

The R-Rating 'Is Only Part Of The Takeaway From Deadpool'

20th Century Fox

Asked if Marvel was considering any R-rated superhero movies following the groundbreaking success of the tale of the Merc with a Mouth, Feige admitted that while they had obviously drawn lessons from the box office phenomenon, they were not going to rush into R-rated cinema yet.

"No, we've not had any specific conversations about that. And that is only part of the takeaway from 'Deadpool.'"

20th Century Fox

For him, the keys to the success of Deadpool lie elsewhere — first of all because the crew did such a great job at bringing the movie to life, but mostly because they honored the source material.

"They pulled it off. Tim Miller did a tremendous job. The other secret, and why it's still a secret, I don't know, but they just took what Deadpool is in the comics. He breaks the fourth wall. He talks into the camera. He doesn't give a sh*t about any of the other heroes. He doesn't take anything seriously. All of that is what made Deadpool so popular in the comics. Tim and his writers and Ryan Reynolds were able to get that and even magnify that up on the big screen. We've always said if there's any 'secret' it's respect the source material, understand the source material and then, any adaptation you make from the source material should be done only to enhance whatever the original pure spirit of the source material was. 'Deadpool' hit on all cylinders with that."

Has Marvel Been Properly Using That Recipe?

Marvel Comics

It's a solid approach: The first people who will express their thoughts on any new superhero movie are the comic book fans, so it only seems logical to stick to the feeling these fans got reading the books. But after that, there's a fine line between adapting the source material and turning it into something else, so can we say that Marvel has been honoring the comics?

Captain America: Civil War, for example, has been applauded by the majority of reviewers, but it strays from the original comics as well.

In the comics, Captain America dies at the end of the Civil War, and Bucky picks up the mantle. In the movie, Cap is safe and sound!

Marvel Studios

Do you agree that respecting the source material is the secret to a good superhero movie? Do you feel like Marvel follows this rule?